春の息吹 (Haru no Ibuki)

1 bar limited to 1x kegs max

This beer is a collaborative effort between Kyoto Brewing Co., the Brussels group of bars, and the Japan Times. After much back and forth, we narrowed the inspiration for the recipe down to a refreshingly dry Saison-IPA hybrid with juicy fruit and spice characteristics, enhanced by the addition of fresh citrus fruit and flavour of ponkan, a type of citrus fruit. While we don't normally use fruit in our beers, the addition really challenged us to incorporate it into the already complex array of flavours from the Saison yeast and Mandarina Bavaria and Cascade hops. Thankfully, we had the help of 9 people over 2 hours on brew day to squeeze 14L of juice and shave 2kg of zest from 25kg of ponkan, and you can truly taste the fruit of our labor in this beer!

As we were hoping, the fruity spiciness of the Saison yeast keeps the beer dry and drinkable even at 6.0% ABV. The Mandarina Bavaria hops, known for their tangerine-like qualities, come through strongly in the flavour alongside the ponkan juice. The peel adds just a hint of extra aroma and really brings together what each party hoped to see in the final product.

The initial release of this beer will begin with an event at the Brussels group of bars on March 22, with a national release scheduled for March 29th. We hope that you have a chance to share in the enjoyment of one of our most collaborative brews to date!

Naming: The collaborative spirit of this brew was carried through all the way to the naming, where we turned to the public for their input in deciding between four names that were conjured up by the collaboration participants. The response was overwhelming, and in the end Haru no Ibuki ('A Breath of Spring') was chosen to capture the spirit of this brew!

Outside of the Brussels group affiliated bars...

1. au Fil des Jours - Uchisaiwaicho

2. Brussels - Kagurazaka

3. Brussels - Kanda

4. Brussels - Otemachi

5. Cafe Hoegaarden - Shinjuku

6. crépuscule café - Sendai

 ...this beer is being made available only to our nationwide dedicated taps and Kyoto-only customers 

Style: Fruit Saison

Malt Bill:

Pilsner, Vienna

Hops:

Bittering: Millennium

Flavour/Aroma: Mandarina Bavaria, Cascade

Yeast: Belle Saison

ABV: 6.0%

IBU: 24

Gas Volumes: 2.5